Family Relations: Chapter Four And What Is It Ex
by P.A.R
Summary: Merry Christmas. Because someone asked realllllly nicely, here's a preview of Chapter Four. Harry has some questions for his new guardian. Please note this story is a preview only and will be continued in its entirety in Spring of 2005.
1. Default Chapter

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Chapter Two: Meetings-Part Two

Sirius had no chance to respond as the man who had come into the office with the note suddenly returned. Coming in the door behind him was a tall, thin man with cold gray eyes and raven black hair that fell well past his shoulders and almost to his waist. To look at him and look at Sirius one could easily have made the mistake of calling them twins. Until one took a closer look at the new-comer. 

Though his face showed itself to be slightly older than Sirius', his expression wasn't as worn as that of the younger man, although it was very close. And whereas Sirius' eyes were blue, the other man's were gray. He was also a bit broader in the shoulders and stood a good three inches taller. The only other difference came down to that on his left hand the man already wore a wedding band.

Sirius fixed the coldest of stares on the man who met it with a stoic expression.

"Sirius." The man stated formally.

Sirius walked over to the man, his stare never leaving him once.

"Why?" Sirius said in a harsh whisper. "Why are you doing this? To me? To Arabella? What possible reason?"

But the man all but ignored the question as he turned to the caseworker.

"My name is Orion Black." He said past a polite smile. "I was told you were the caseworker for my brother's adoption of Harry Potter Black."

The woman simply sat for a moment, staring at the man who stood next to her desk.

Arabella had noted the stare quickly enough. She was all to familiar with it from her school days. If the Black men shared nothing else, it was their ability to have almost any woman stop and stare at them as though they had never seen anything quite like them before.

But as though noting how quiet the room had gotten, the caseworker suddenly dropped her eyes to the paper work on her desk and began shuffling through it. "Ummmm, yes." She replied hastily. "And you are....?"

"Orion Black." Orion repeated pleasantly. "Harry Potter Black's legal guardian."

Sirius immediately grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him back around to face him. "How dare you!?" He stated in a voice that did little to hide the anger in it. "I am Harry's godfather. I am his legal guardian."

Orion's expression didn't alter in the slightest as he met his younger brother's stare. 

"You were Harry's legal guardian up to the point that I felt the situation was no longer in Harry's best interest. At that time, Sirius, you yourself gave me the right to take custody of Harry. And that is what I have done." Orion pulled a sheet of paper out of his long, black overcoat. "That paper was signed this morning in the court where I entered my petition to take custody of Harry. As of that time, Harry was in my legal custody. Not yours."

Sirius read the paper over with Arabella looking anxiously over his arm as she read it as well.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sirius stated, turning the cold stare back to his brother.

"Just what it says." Orion replied calmly.

"You're saying I can't care for Harry properly. Financially or emotionally."

The man gave Sirius the most unfriendly smile Arabella could ever remember seeing. "You've just been declared a free man, Sirius. You have a lot of things to deal with. A great deal of matters that need attending to. I felt it was likely that a great deal of your time and energy over the next few months is going to be directed at sorting out your own life, not on handling the new responsibilities that come with a child. As for the financial part, just how were you planning to support yourself and a child?"

"I'm hardly poor."

The smile widened. "And you currently have no access to your accounts."

Sirius' expression shifted quickly to one of confusion. "What?"

"When you were in....prison," Orion amended from saying Azkaban as he gave the caseworker a quick look, "I had your accounts transferred into my name so that someone was managing the family estate and its assets properly...until your case was decided. Therefore, your accounts are currently under my control and I don't think you're quite ready to regain access to them just yet."

Sirius stood staring at his brother for a moment longer, but then quickly recomposed himself.

"You've taken my godson. You've taken my money. What's next, Orion?" He asked in a deceptively calm voice. "Or were you planning on having me thrown back in Azkaban saved as a really big surprise?"

"I'm not doing any of this to hurt you, Sirius." Orion replied flatly. "I am, in fact, trying to help."

"Then you can stop. Because you're not."

"Really?"

Sirius fixed his cold stare on the man in front of him. "What you are doing," he stated in a low, drawn out whisper of a voice, "is interfering."

Orion stood for a moment, his eyes locked on his brother's. But then the smallest of smiles crossed his features.

"I'm sure you'd see it that way." He replied quietly.

"Sirius." Arabella laid a gentle hand on Sirius' arm. "Please, can we just go and get Harry? He's probably wondering what's happened."

"You stay away from my family." Sirius stated in a quiet, menacing tone as Arabella directed him to the door. His anger was controlled, but definitely more dangerous than usual. Even the limp that he now walked with was more pronounced under his anger as he took each step.

"I'm afraid that isn't going to be possible right now." Orion replied as he followed closely behind.

Sirius stopped abruptly as he opened the door and turned back to Orion. "Meaning?"

"Harry won't be leaving with you, Sirius. He will be staying with me."

Sirius nearly exploded. "Over my.....!"

Arabella pulled him back. "Sirius, please!" She pleaded. "Can we discuss this outside."

"There is nothing to discuss!" Sirius stated in a voice Arabella had never heard him use before. "This man is not taking that boy from me."

"You're living in the past." Orion stated in his same, pleasantly calm voice. "It's already been done. The papers from the court give me the legal right to take Harry today. And I'm afraid there is very little you can do to stop it." Orion placed himself just inches from his brother's face. "Unless you'd like to try."

With Arabella's hand wrapped tightly about his arm, Sirius stood his ground, staring down his brother. "We will see." He replied finally in a very low voice.

"I look forward to it." Orion stated as he stepped past Sirius and out into the hallway. 


	2. Meetings Part Three

A/N: Could my chapter titles get any more boring?

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WARNING: Perhaps I shouldn't spoil your fun before you read this chapter, but something has come to my attention that needs correcting right now.

Folks, this is a P.R.E.V.I.E.W.. This is not the actual story. You will not be getting anymore chapters after this. Not until the story is actually posted.

HEY! You in the front. Put that fruit down! I'm not having any of that! 

PUT. IT. DOWN.

NOW!

All right then.

Now, why, you might well ask?

Well, several reasons. One reason is I have to post two other stories first. One is the one I am currently working on, Enemies, and the other is Runaway. 

Why do those stories have to go up first? Well, that goes back to a statement I made to BellaMonte earlier. Most of my stories aren't so much based on how much action I can put in them as on the relationships involved. (Family Relations is big on this, hence the name.) And if the other two stories don't go up first, you will not understand some things that happen in Family Relations that are based solely on the relations between the two people involved.

Now, can you read Family Relations without reading Enemies or Runaway? Anything is possible, I'm told. But I take no credit for how confused you will be or the fact you won't get half as much out of the story as those who did read those two stories first.

So, with that in mind, as much as you can, and as always,

Enjoy.

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Chapter Three: Meetings-Part Three

Harry sat on an uncomfortable wooden bench, absently swinging his feet back and forth over the dull, over-waxed green plastic tiles of the adoption agency's lobby floor. He doubted that in his entire life he had ever been so bored while being equally so anxious.

Sirius had told him in all hopefulness this would be their last trip to the agency. The adoption should be finalized that morning and that would be that.

Harry certainly hoped so. Things had been anything but normal since Sirius had mentioned the adoption. And things happened so fast after that, Harry hardly had time to even think about what was going on.

The oddest occurrence of all in Harry's mind was the day Arabella had come to him and given him a paper to sign. Harry looked it over carefully as Arabella explained it to him.

"It's a petition to change your name, Harry." She explained with what he could only describe as the most nervous smile he had ever seen his godmother use. "It's just for your protection." Harry could clearly hear the hesitancy in her words. Like she was picking each one with extreme care. "From now on you'll be Harry James Potter Black. All right?"

Harry had stared at the paper, then turned back to his godmother.

"Why isn't Sirius doing this?" he asked.

"Well," Arabella had paused briefly, "this is sort of a surprise, Harry. For after the wedding. It's something I'm doing for him."

Harry glanced up at his godmother, then turned his attention back to the paper. He glanced over it again, this time with something else catching his attention. "This says that if anything happens to you or Sirius, my custody goes to Orion."

"It's a protection clause, Dear." Arabella stated quickly. "It's just if anything were to happen and Sirius or I couldn't take care of you, you would go to Sirius' brother."

"Why Orion?" Harry asked. He had already heard stories about the elder Black brother and he didn't exactly relish the idea of him as a guardian. "Why not Remus? Or Dumbledore."

Arabella looked like she was exactly ten seconds away from some sort of breakdown. "Because Remus can't be given custody, Dear. It's the law governing werewolves. And Dumbledore is much to busy running the school to take on a teenager. Now please, Harry, for me, just sign the document. We'll give it to Sirius after the wedding, all right? He'll be so pleased you signed it. So pleased you wanted to do this for him. To make him happy."

Harry remembered trying to ask something else about the document, but that was all he could recall of the event. He was trying to ask something else, when things went a little fuzzy. He remembered suddenly feeling that signing the paper was simply the right thing to do. Arabella had handed him a quill and directed his hand over the piece of paper where he was to sign. 

"Just sign it, Dear." He remembered hearing her say to him. "It's the right thing to do."

When Harry looked up again, he noticed the most startling transformation in his godmother. Never had he seen the woman look more like the Auror she was. Staring down at him with a expression that was anything but her usual, gentle air, Arabella carefully slid the paper out from under his hand and carefully rolled it up and tucked it safely into her robes.

He remembered her telling him something about her wanting him to go take a nap as she slipped the quill out of his hand, that they had a busy day planned the following morning. And finding himself suddenly very tired, he had gone straight up to bed and fallen almost immediately asleep.

After that the court paper was never mentioned again. And after a short period of time, he had nearly forgotten it in the mad rush everything around him turned into.

Especially today. 

Arabella had fussed over him all morning, making sure that he looked just right. Even as they drove to the agency in London she had continued to try and get his hair to look a little more orderly. She had even considered a small spell to do the job. But Sirius had finally called a halt to process at that point, reminding Arabella they had agreed on a strict 'no magic' rule whenever they were dealing with the adoption agency. The agency was run by muggles. If anything 'unusual' were to happen due to a spell suddenly going wrong, it could jeopardize the adoption. 

And there seemed to be no guarantees these days about Arabella and her spells. While Sirius had taken control of the adoption process (part of which involved a 'no waiting' policy, despite his earlier opinion that the agency would look more favorably on a married couple than a single father), the planning of the wedding had been left to Arabella. And since the first day she started trying to get things organized, her spells seemed a bit....less focused. Everything from burnt dinners to attacks from feather dusters seemed to suddenly be the norm around the house.

And then there were the trips. The last few weeks seemed an endless series of trips to Harry. Off to Diagon Alley. Or a day trip to London to look for a suit for him. Or a dress for Arabella. Or for something else having to do with the wedding. It always seemed they were off somewhere. Sometimes for the day. Sometimes overnight or for the weekend. When Harry went off with his godmother, he was never sure when he would see Sirius again. In his opinion, it seemed almost as though Arabella was doing her utmost best to keep him and Sirius separated as much as possible, but always with her. Harry had ask once if he could go see Ron for the weekend, sure Arabella would jump at the chance. But she had told him 'no', stating only it wasn't a good idea in her opinion and instead hustled him off to London for the weekend.

But that morning things almost seemed normal with everyone pleasantly over-excited. Especially Harry and Arabella. Harry had spent most of the car ride into London thinking about what he was going to call his godparents now. 'Sirius and Arabella' seemed suddenly out of place. But 'Mom and Dad' didn't seem quite right either. Or maybe it would just take some getting use to. When Arabella had noticed how quiet he had gotten and asked what was on his mind, Harry had told her.

He should have lied.

The dilemma had brought a flurry of suggestions from his godparents. Everything from referring to them simply as still his 'godparents' to, as Sirius had suggested, 'the two people who were going to make his life miserable until he turned eighteen because that was now their job'.

When Harry had asked the question in reverse, Arabella had proudly stated she was going to refer to Harry for what he was; her adopted son. Sirius, on the other hand, had remained uncharacteristically quiet on the matter as he directed the car into the adoption agency parking lot.

And so Harry had sat on the bench for the past hour thinking over various answers to the question. He only looked up when he heard the sound of footsteps echoing down the corridor. 

Harry didn't think he had ever seen a stranger procession than the one headed towards him down the hallway. 

In the lead was the woman Harry recognized from his earlier visits to the agency as the caseworker who was in charge of the adoption. Harry had had one meeting with her in which she had asked a horribly long list of questions; most of which Harry didn't think were any of her business, but that he had answered anyway so as not to jeopardize the adoption.

Behind the caseworker was a tall man who looked amazingly like Sirius, except that he was dressed very differently. Harry's first thought upon seeing him was that he knew the man from somewhere. A thought he quickly past off to the fact that the man simply bore a striking resemblance to his godfather.

But it was the people bringing up the rear of the procession that struck Harry as the oddest of the four.

Harry had expected his godparents to be happy and excited. But the two's expressions couldn't have been further from 'happy' or 'excited'.

Sirius' gaze seemed fixed on nothing imparticular as he walked behind the man in front of him. Every step seemed to be forced, as did every other movement Sirius made. From his set jaw to the way his cane hit the floor every time he moved it, Sirius seemed as though he had enough anger inside of him that the slightest release would shake the building to its foundation.

Next to him Arabella looked as pale as Harry could ever remember seeing her. She had a nearly white-knuckled grip on Sirius' arm that he seemed oblivious to at the moment. She also didn't seem to be staring at anything imparticular until she came closer to where he was now standing, facing the approaching group. Only then did her gaze shift to him and her expression became even more forlorn.

Not knowing what to think, Harry stayed exactly where he was, not making a move or saying a word. Whatever was going on, he knew it wasn't anything good as the tension from the four pressed in on him as they approached.

The caseworker stepped into a side office before reaching him. The black-haired man behind her continued to approach him with long, determined steps.

Harry's eyes never left the man's face as he walked up and stopped finally before him.

"Harry," the stranger said with a forced friendliness that tried to dispel the tension around them with little success, "my name is Orion Black. I'm Sirius' brother."

Harry only nodded slightly in response, his gaze shifting briefly to his godparents. Sirius' expression hadn't changed in the least, but remained fixed on Orion. But Arabella's attention had stay on him, her expression showing nothing but the anguish she was trying so hard to hide.

Harry turned his eyes back to the man standing before him. Suddenly he remembered why the man looked so familiar. Harry had seen pictures of him when they had been living at Sirius' family house during the summer. Harry had, in fact, mistaken several pictures of Orion for Sirius.

Orion held his hand out for Harry. "Harry, I need for you to come with me, all right?"

Harry stayed where he was, ignoring the outstretched hand as he turned his eyes again to this godparents, pleading for them to tell him what was going on. What they wanted him to do.

Harry was so caught up in his confusion over the situation, he failed to even think to protest as Orion reached down and took his hand, directing him to his feet. 

He was still staring mutely at his godparents as Orion led him off down the hallway toward the front doors.

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Q&A

It's official, folks. I need a keeper. Anyone want to apply?

I know I answered some of your questions to Family Relations, but I'll be darned if I can find them. And I mean I have LOOKED!!! But the file is gone somewhere. W:ho knows? PAR needs a secretary.

I'm answering these as the ones i remember not answering yet. Bit if I missed you, please help me out and let me know.

gatesy: Very true, dear. You can tell if you like a story or not by the first chapter. That is why authors try so hard to get you hooked within the first few pages.

I hope you did well on your essay.

Von: Ummmm, see warning above.

Why does nothing go well for poor Harry? Wouldn't be much of a story if it did, huh?

sparks the insomniac werewolf: I think I answered you before, Dear. But if not, Proper Friends is one of my 'Oh, I have a few spare moments, I'll go work on that story' pieces. What does that mean? Well, I can tell you, right now PAR doesn't have a lot of spare time, so that story is a long time coming.

But it will be posted some day. It's a cute little story dealing with Remus and Snape and their time at school together, and helps to explain some of the things that go on between them in my stories.

TreeHugger: *Looks over notes* Swore I answered this one too.

*Throws notes away* Oh well. Can't find it. Can't prove it. If I did, you get answered twice, Dear.

First off, let me say, 'good for you! PAR is a tree hugger from way on back'.

I always wanted to be someone's hero.

Ummmm, I would check into that left arm thing, Dear. Doesn't sound good. But be sure to do it before you read the warning at the top of the pag............oh. Probably already too late.

FairyTale: there is a great deal of brother interaction in Family Relations. But I'll bet my last dollar it isn't what you're expecting.

Harry may be in for an interesting time, but what about poor Orion? Harry isn't exactly your typical teenager.

The first chapter was posted, Dear. PAR just isn't very good with the chapter-setting-up thing yet.

Lis': Orion has control of Sirius' accounts, not Harry's. If he had control of Harry's accounts, it would be solely as his now legal guardian over Sirius. But legally, no one has control over his accounts. Harry controls his own finances.

fan: Well, I update when I can, Dear. But unfortunately, if you read above, you know this is the last posting on this for a while.

Natural Anthem: Come on! Cliffhangers are fun.

I'm glad you enjoyed Family Life. But as you've seen, this story is only being posted as a preview, not the entire story yet.

Voltora: Well, I counted the chapters this morning, Dear, and it is running longer than Family Life. I just won't say how ,much longer.

Sirius isn't happy about what's going on. For a number of reasons.

lool: I'm a fad now? I'm so excited! My parents will be so pleased.

Unfortunately, your description starts to sound a bit like the 'bad-ass Harry' Rowling turned this kid into, and PAR starts to get a little nervous about that. And I'm afraid he isn't going to have a lot of time for the 'teenage rebellion' thing. He's going to be kept very busy just trying to stay alive.

Reviews are as of 03282004.

And remember;

Obey Gravity.

It's the law. 


	3. Chapter Four: And What Is It Exactly You...

A/N: Look on the bright side of life, Brian, I didn't name this one Meetings.

Actually, folks, you have only one person to thank for this posting, although by the end I'm not sure if it'll be thanking or something else, since it ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger.

But just the same, that person is BellaMonte, who very nicely ask if I would post another preview chapter for Family Relations.

Also, this is short, and there's a reason for that.

It isn't the whole chapter. I cut it off so it would end on a cliff hanger. Aren't I just a stinker?

There is no Q&A at the end of this. I will answer questions from Enemies at the end of the first chapter of Runaway.

Anyway,

As always,

Enjoy.

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Chapter Four: And What Is It Exactly That You Do For A Living?

To Harry the whole episode seemed like some bad dream. At that moment he was suppose to be headed home with Sirius and Arabella; with his parents. They had already planned to have a celebration that night at a restaurant in London.

The next morning he was suppose to be waking up to whole new life. He wasn't going to be an orphan anymore. He would have parents. Two people who loved him and wanted him and cared about him.

Instead Harry found himself being ushered into the back of a large black sedan with his godfather's older brother getting in after him, giving the driver direction as he did so.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked in a voice so distant he could barely tell it was his. He hadn't heard the address Orion had given the driver.

"The Black estate." The man sitting next to him replied formally. "You've been there before, yes? So at least you'll be somewhere familiar."

"Can't you just tell me what's going on?" Harry asked.

The man turned to him with a stare Harry was sure Snape would have stood up and applauded.

"I mean.....it's just....I thought...."Harry found his voice failing him as he stared up at Orion Black. All he wanted right then was to be with his godparents. To have something...anything familiar and comforting he could recognize.

And he found it suddenly in the most unlikely of places. In the smile of the man sitting next to him. A smile that was so reminiscent of his godfather that Harry couldn't help but think it was Sirius sitting next to him instead.

"So," Orion asked, "do I look enough like him for you to be comfortable with me?"

Harry's expression shifted to one of amazement. It was as though the man had picked his thoughts out of the air. But he just as quickly frowned at the man.

"So, are all Unspeakables mind readers?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"No." Orion replied pleasantly enough. "Just good judges of character."

Harry gave him a skeptical look.

"All I can read, Harry, is body language." Orion explained. "And believe me, your's was speaking volumes."

Harry turned to the window. Suddenly he found himself feeling very self-conscious. But also he found himself remembering something he hadn't thought of in days.

The document Arabella had had him sign.

She said it was for his protection. That should something happen to her or Sirius, Orion would have custody of him.

Harry seriously doubted Arabella had foreseen Orion using the document in such a way. Nothing had happened to either of his godparents. Why had Orion taken him from them?

"So," the voice behind him broke into his thoughts, "you know who I am. You know what I do. And you know where I live. I'm afraid that covers all the small talk."

"Why did you take me away from Sirius and Arabella?" Harry asked, still facing the window.

"The only person I took you away from in that room, Harry, you desperately needed to be taken away from. And some day you may even thank me for it."

Harry turned sharply back to Orion for an explanation. But Orion seemed currently engaged in studying what was going on outside the car than inside of it. The man shifted his attention to each side of the car, then to the front and the back.

Harry carefully followed his stare, but failed to see what had caught Orion's attention so suddenly.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure yet." Orion replied, pushing Harry down to the seat. "Stay down for me, will you, Harry?"

"What's going on?" Harry repeated.

But Orion was now busy speaking to his driver.

"Give us some room, Craz. Then hit the first street and slow for the alleyway, all right?"

The man in the drivers seat gave no sign he had even heard the instructions. But Harry felt the car suddenly accelerate. From where he lay over the back seat, he couldn't tell if the car, like the ministry cars that had taken them to the train one year, could maneuver magically through traffic, but Harry had the feeling with the man at the wheel's driving skills, it wouldn't have much mattered. Several times Harry found himself nearly thrown off the seat, only to be saved as Orion pulled him back onto it. Abruptly Harry felt the car take a sharp left and then slow slightly.

"Take the car back to the office, Craz. That should give them something to do, all right?"

"Right-o." The driver cued from the front seat.

In the next instance Harry felt himself grabbed by the back of his shirt and hauled bodily out of the back seat and out into the street. Before he had time to regain his footing he was being dragged down a back alleyway where Orion pulled him up against the wall next to him.

Seconds later Harry heard the squeal of tires and suddenly a large black car spend past the alleyway.

Standing still for several seconds, Orion finally decided the danger had past as he relaxed his stance a little.

"Right. That'll throw them off for a few minutes. But it won't take them too long to discover we're not in the car anymore." Orion quickly turned to Harry. "All right. A quick little apparation home and we should still be in time for lunch. Black estate. You know how to get there, right Harry?"

Apparation?

Harry rapidly reached out and grabbed for Orion's sleeve.

And missed.

Quite abruptly, Harry found himself standing in the alleyway alone.

Harry stood for a few seconds in the alleyway, wondering what to do. Surely Orion would realize what had happened and come back. But he had also said they were being followed by Deatheaters. What if one of them had seen the two of them duck into the alleyway? If the Deatheaters found him, he had no way out.

Harry didn't waste anymore time trying to think how he would get out of that one. He didn't seem to get much further past his mental imagine of facing several Deatheaters who were blocking his only escape route. Taking one last look around the alleyway to see if Orion was coming back, Harry's nerves finally won out and he raced for the entrance of the alleyway. At least if he was on the street, he had chance of escaping.

Once he reached the street, Harry already had a plan of where he wanted to go. He headed back in the direction of adoption agency. At least he would be safe there. Even if he wasn't sure where it was, he knew where they had come from. And he could always ask directions when he felt he had gotten far enough away. At the moment all he wanted was to get as far from the area he was in as he could. Then he could worry about finding the adoption agency.

Harry was never so grateful for crowded streets as he was that day. He found himself having to push his way around several other people on the sidewalk as he ran. Surely that would help throw off anyone trying to catch up to him.

When he was sure he was well out of the area where the Deatheaters might be, Harry gave himself a brief rest against a building to catch his breath. He made sure it wasn't too much in plain view, but that he could be seen if someone tried to grab him, that he wasn't near any alleys, and away from the street.

As he stood gasping for breath, Harry began to think further ahead in his plan. He had to get to the adoption agency. That was the first step. But then what? What if the Deatheaters were there? What if they were watching for him. Well, sure they couldn't grab him in plain sight. Maybe he could find a policeman and tell him someone was chasing him and he needed to find his parents back at the adoption agency?

No, that wasn't any good. He couldn't endanger a muggle policeman against Deatheaters.

What if he went to the police station instead?

But who would he say was chasing him? Deatheaters? That would go over well.

A hand suddenly grabbed Harry's arm, snapping him instantly out of his thoughts. His first instinct was to fight.

And he did. Never even bothering to see who the person was, Harry fought against the hold on his arm, hitting at it as he tried to break free and run in the opposite direction. His second instinct was to scream for help. Surely whoever was trying to grab him didn't want publicity. Harry screamed for help at the top of his voice. Yelling someone was trying to kidnap him.

Harry's last glimpse of the street was of the people walking by him, calmly going about their business as thought they didn't even see him.

As shocked as he was by the occurrence, Harry barely noticed two long, thin arms wrapping themselves about him from behind until they increased their pressure across his chest, holding him fast.

"Honestly," a soft, silk-smooth voice whispered in his ear as a cascade of dark auburn hair fell about his shoulders and down his chest, "what is wrong with these Black men? That they can't take care of one, small child?"


End file.
